Lucknow, Mar 8: The Samajwadi Party on Friday released a list of six candidates for the Lok Sabha polls in Uttar Pradesh, fielding party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav from its stronghold Mainpuri.

Dharmendra Yadav will contest from Badaun, Akshay Yadav from Firozabad, Kamlesh Katheria from Etawah, Bhailal Kol from Robertsganj and Shabbir Valmiki from Bahraich, the party announced.

The list was signed by SP national chief general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav.

The party left Mainpuri, described as its "safest" seat, from Mulayam Yadav, who is MP from Azamgarh right now.

He represented Mainpuri in the Lok Sabha in 1996, 2004 and 2009. In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Mulayam Yadav contested from Azamgarh and Mainpuri and won both.

In Mainpuri, his victory margin was a massive 3.64 lakh votes.

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Bengaluru (PTI): Veteran Congress leader Shamanuru Shivashankarappa passed away at a private hospital here on Sunday due to age-related ailments, official sources said.

He was 95 and represented the Davanagere South Assembly constituency. He had been undergoing treatment at the hospital for some time.

Shivashankarappa is survived by three sons, including S S Mallikarjun, Karnataka Minister for Mines and Geology and Horticulture, and four daughters.

His daughter-in-law, Prabha Mallikarjun, is the Member of Parliament from Davanagere.

A former minister, Shivashankarappa, served as treasurer of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) for several decades and was the president of the All India Veerashaiva Mahasabha, the apex body of the influential Veerashaiva-Lingayat community.

He was also a noted educationist who established several educational institutions and was an industrialist.